In the past two and a half years, Rami Shamir's indie novel, TRAIN TO POKIPSE, has dispelled a lot of publishing myths.

Drawing comparisons to the works of J. D. Salinger, Jack Kerouac, and Allen Ginsberg, TRAIN TO POKIPSE has discredited the criticism put forth by traditional publishers—that books which are published by their authors bear little artistic merit. Upon its release in February 2012, the Brooklyn Rail declared POKIPSE “to be something of a gem which might well glitter on your bookshelf.” This sentiment would be reafarrimed throughout POKIPSE's first edition run. Whether it was Adbusters Magazine concluding its seminal "Best of 2013" issue with an excerpt from the book; the Huffington Post interview, in which I directly took on the Corporate book publishing status quo; or the 2013 Acker Award, of which I was the youngest recipient, POKIPSE's literary and social value has been firmly established.

Simultaneously, TRAIN TO POKIPSE has debunked the impression that authors who undertake the publishing of their books can expect no entry into independent bookstores. At the conclusion of its first edition run, TRAIN TO POKIPSE was carried by 40 independent booksellers nationwide. While the shelf-life of contemporary books (traditionally published or not) rarely exceeds a few months, booksellers afforded POKIPSE with prime shelf space for the full two and a half years of its limited, first edition run.

In contributing to this Kickstarter, you will ensure the continuation of this novel's existence, as well as its greater availability in the world. And you'll empower me to move forward as an author.

Your support will go to:

Printing a new, high-quality trade paperback edition of TRAIN TO POKIPSE.
Layout and Design
Promotion
Storage and Distribution of books
Producing the first POKIPSE e-bookThis includes the labor, text conversion, layout, and design. The e-book will be an annotated edition with explanatory notes and selected photographic record.

You have the power to make sure that TRAIN TO POKIPSE remains in the world.

Together we'll continue to show that a contemporary writer can bring their work out with 100 % independence from the Corporate status quo.

5 Comments

"The society which was Zuccotti Park was the most interesting and revolutionary act of the whole Occupy movement. While its social components varied in age, class, and interest -- mostly because the General Assembly varied in age, class, and interest -- the person that was actually occupying Zuccotti -- the Zuccotti Occupier -- was pretty much from one age group. Occupy was a generational struggle -- we struggled to make our own America because we were left nothing but the realities of an America that was in the midst of falling down, over a cliff, head-first into nothingness. We struggled to make a better America for future generations as well, because we understand what it's like to get a truly rotten inheritance.

And as soon as the force of the ground Occupation -- which was the generational driving force of the whole movement -- began to disappear, other interests -- most of them falling under the umbrella that makes up the squeaky-clean nightmare of retirees, yuppies, and old liberals commonly known as the Democratic Party -- started their hijacking. With Occupy, my generation finally found a home, and even that's been taken from us by the senior citizens of the world. The spirit of Occupy scattered with its children across the globe, leaving traces of a ghost-dust over everything. We made something happen, and we opened each other's eyes: but Occupy is only the first chapter of a very powerful full-on generational revolt in which the chickens have yet to come home to roost."

All the very best to this occupier staying true to the ideals of Occupy by publishing his book outside the realm of the corporate controlled publishing industry. May he never become a co-opted sell out in the future....

We have to keep going, turbo. Please start tweeting. :) This place has been co-opted by absolute idiots but we need to keep on keepin' on. I'll never give up here and will be here through to the 4th anniversary, but we need to have other venues and twitter is a good one. Peace and solidarity to you and yours on this Independence Day! May we find our economic freedom to match the illusion of our political freedom!

Consider: ''The spirit of Occupy scattered with its children across the globe, leaving traces of a ghost-dust over everything. We made something happen, and we opened each other's eyes: but Occupy is only the first chapter of a very powerful full-on generational revolt in which the chickens have yet to come home to roost." from bw's HuffPo link and repeated to you .. because it warrants it and I found this bit: ''With Occupy, my generation finally found a home, and even that's been taken from us by the senior citizens of the world'' - particularly poignant ;-) Also fyi, consider this website: http://roarmag.org/ later.